Life Beyond Listening: The Great Revolution
by Poofable
Summary: Luka and Sophie are two opposite people from two different regions; one has lived a life of selfishness, and the other a life of hatred. When they both wake up as Pokémon, they must work as a team to conquer the grudges from their pasts and defeat Darkrai, who seeks to destroy his twin sister, Cresselia, and to become the ruler of the Pokémon world.
1. Prologue

So I've decided to completely rewrite this story from the bottom to the top, as there was so many plotholes and I never actually got around to finishing it (which made me feel awful). I strongly suggest reading my other Pokémon fanfiction, _The Passionflower, _before reading this one, as there are characters in this story that were introduced in the previous one. Also, it would give you a stronger understanding of what's happening in here.

However, reading _The Passionflower _is not necessary whatsoever, and I'll do my best to execute the world in a friendly manner while keeping up with people who are already familiar with it.

Leaving constructive reviews makes you my best friend, as I'm always looking for ways to improve my writing. Now, that does not mean I have any plans to adapt to what you want or how you think I should do things. Anyway...

**Read, enjoy, review, and share!**

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><p><span><strong>Prologue<strong>

Arceus was the supreme overlord of the known Pokémon universe:

At the beginning of time, from between his fingertips he had weaved the very fibers of existence. The mountains rose, the seas spread green, and the stars had aligned. He had created fifty-one legendaries to help him balance the scale, and to help him govern an entire kingdom of subjects. What he said was law, and _most_ of the time he was fairly adept at outsmarting even the wisest of Pokémon.

But for the life of him, he could _not _figure out how to win a simple game of 'Go-Fish.'

"I do not understand this human game," he grumbled. He knocked the cards away, much to the amusement of the young girl sitting across the table from him. "What evil being came up with this?"

"For goodness sakes, Arceus," said the girl, a Meganium. She sighed._ "__Y__ou're_ the one who said you wanted to learn." She finger-quoted him, "You know, 'to better understand the inner workings of the human species.'"

Arceus leaned back in his chair, squinting at her. "Should you not be seeking out my new diver gents for me, Alfie? You are not…being much of a _seeker._"

_"I'm _not the one with a kingdom to rule," said Alfie, who was busy re-dealing the cards. _"__Plus_, I'm on break right now. I've been dealing with a lot of drama in my personal life, so I asked Suicune to look for the divergents for me — just this once. When she finds them, I'll be out of your hair for a few weeks. Maybe even a few months...depending on this goes."

"Then I shall have time to rest."

Alfie grinned at him. "Yes, my Lord, then you'll have time to rest. You need it."

The two were sitting at a grand table in the middle of the overlord's throne room. The long room was lined by golden columns, which were connected by beams that arched up to a center point on the ceiling, much like a dome. The floor was covered in oriental rugs and the walls were lined with oil paintings that depicted many events from Pokémon history. There were beautiful Gardevoirs on either side of the table, silently watching them play.

Arceus crossed his arms. "You seem very calm about all of this," he commented. For Alfie, nothing seemed out of place — she was smiling to herself, her movements were slow and calm, her voice was steady. He had expected her to be overwhelmed, but she seemed hardly fazed. "This is your first real job as the seeker. When you return, there is a war to be fought. And yet, you do not looked intimidated at all. Why is that?"

Alfie shrugged. "There are worse things to be afraid of," she said. Her eyes were as yellow as the columns along the wall, but much brighter.

There was loud knocking on the throne room doors. Two servants swept towards the doors and pulled them open. Suicune, the North Wind, was standing there and looking out of breath, which wasn't unusual at all. She stormed into the room, her robes and long violet hair flowing behind her. As she reached the table, she stiffly bowed to Arceus and then gave Alfie a brief, but friendly, nod.

"You have found them?" asked Arceus.

"Indeed," said Suicune. She glanced at Alfie. "It is now or never, my seeker."

Alfie stood up, the chair squeaking against the floor. "Looks like my break's over," she said. She tossed the box of cards to Suicune, who caught it with one hand. The legendary inspected the box, turning it over on its sides and reading the label. "Now you two can learn how to play Go-fish together. Where are they?"

"Well, that might be a problem," said Suicune. "One of them, the boy — he is in Kanto. He resides in a mansion in Saffron City — you will know it when you see it. The girl might be harder to obtain. She lives in Lilycove with her aunt and uncle."

"In _Hoenn?" _exclaimed Alfie, who gave the overlord an exasperated glare.

Arceus folded his hands. "There is one thing I should mention," he said, "before you head out. You are well aware how quickly this war is escalating. There is not much time to dawdle around. You must move as fast as you can. Suicune will help you with transportation, and I am sure that Epsilon will pick up one of the divergents...if you ask nicely."

"Gotcha."

"And you know how this is going to happen for them," warned Arceus. He wanted to make sure that his hand-picked seeker was prepared for the job ahead of her. "Treading the line between life and death — the Reawakening is a truly traumatizing experience. Unfortunately, we cannot wait for it to happen naturally — if you know what I am getting at. I have never been so pressed for time. So, we can consider this…an experiment."

"_Ah_," said Alfie. Silent understanding passed between the two. "Well, in that case…"

She wandered off to one of the windows and peered outside.

"Man, Epsilon had it easy," she said softly. Her predecessor and close friend, a Lucario with infinite stores of knowledge about the Pokémon world, had let her Reawakening 'happen naturally' — as if cause-of-death being 'Raging Gyarados' was natural, but hey, when she had come back to life, he hadn't had any blood on his hands.

Now here she was, wondering which was the best way to murder someone without coming off a little too strong.

**End of Prologue**


	2. Reawakening

And the story begins! I've rewritten this chapter several times in the past so this one didn't need too much work.

Let me know if you like the direction this story is going in, and of course...

Read, enjoy, review, and share!

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><p><span><strong>Reawakening<strong>

"I _hate_ my mother," said Luka. Even though he had made the comment in a very straightforward manner, he was pretending to be preoccupied with the scenery outside of the car window. "She was supposed to get me tickets for the concert in Celadon tomorrow night, but she couldn't, just because she was _busy_."

"Oh, I understand, my father does the same thing."

Luka glared at the brunette-haired girl sitting across the limo from him. "It's not that I'm upset about missing the concert. It's that she wasn't busy at _all_. She spent the whole weekend with that stupid Richard guy. He's just trying to get with her for our money."

The girl, Cassia, sighed and took her gaze away from the window. "Richard isn't too bad," she said, straightening her posture as she tidied her hair. "Remember when he took you and your, uh, _friends_ to the water park in Cerulean? That was so nice of him. I think you're just being overdramatic."

_And I think you__'__re an obnoxious loudmouth_, thought Luka. Cassia was something beautiful all right, but when she wasn't being entirely absentminded, she was insulting him because she thought_ too _much. At least she was replaceable, which was comforting, because there were dozens of other girls who would be his plaything as long as he had his wallet on hand and a confirmed biological relationship to his mother.

He voiced none of these thoughts. "Whatever," he said, returning his eyes to the scenery outside of the limo.

In the morning, Saffron looked like any other city in Kanto. Even though it was called the "Shining Big City", there were no special lights once the sun hit the horizon. Luka found the whole place to be one large trap, in which there was little to no escape. For him, every day was the same mediocre routine – wake up, attend school, go home. After all, there were only so many things he could do with his mother's vast amounts of money.

_Reminder number one: As soon as we get to school, leave Cassia and find someone who's a lot more exciting. _Luka exhaled and leaned back against the seats, his arms spread out behind him. When Cassia questioned his smug appearance with one of her 'looks', he only grinned wider and tapped his fingers to the music on the radio.

The moment that the limo pulled into the school driveway, Luka swept himself from the vehicle and stood on the cement, contemplating his choices. Before his companion could even close the door to the car, he had already left her. He heard her voice behind him, "Luka, _Luka_, wait up!"

Unfortunately, girls could run faster in high heels than he'd expected, because in mere moments, she'd caught up to him and grabbed his forearm. Mentally sneering at her, he said, "I figured you would catch up. I was just about to…"

He trailed off, his eyes wandering off in the other direction. At the entrance to the school, just on top of the concrete wall by the steps, was a girl in a green sundress. She was standing behind one of the large garden trees, keeping to herself, and waving her hands around a bed of flowers like she was conducting magic.

_What's up with her green hair? Are those flower petals around her neck_?

In the background, amongst all the noise of the other students, he heard Cassia's whine, "You know, people would like you so much more if you'd at _least_ try and respect them a little. You just walk around here thinking that you own the place and—"

_Her eyes are__… _thought Luka, hardly daring to believe it when he saw the flowers bloom underneath the shade of her palms. _They__'__re yellow._

The girl stood up and admired her handiwork, and noticed Luka's stare. When she turned around, she gave him a tiny smile and brought her finger to her lips, like, "_Shh, that__'__s our little secret.__" _Then she walked away, leaving behind a lush, colorful greenery in her wake.

"Luka, are you even listening to me?" demanded Cassia, shoving herself past the crowd so that she was standing directly in front of him. When he only gave a blank stare in return, she crossed her arms and groaned, "Always in another world. All you care about is your stupid neighbor and your stupid wealth!"

_My stupid neighbor?_

"Don't talk about Nolan like that," said Luka, his voice uncommonly low. At first, he had been so distracted by the girl with the flowers that he had also forgotten his intentions to ditch Cassia, but there was no way that he was going to accept what she'd just said. When he spoke again, he had risen to the verge of yelling, "If you _ever _say anything about Nolan again, I'll—!"

He was interrupted by the bell, and he let himself end there. As the bell continued to gong throughout the school, he gave Cassia his best glare and stormed off. He pushed himself through the halls, finding it increasingly difficult to smother the anger that was smoldering inside of him. Students that noticed his fury stepped aside, leaving him with a vacant heart on a vacant path that nobody wanted to fill.

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><p>"I'm walking home today," said Luka into the phone. "You can take Cassia home, but make sure that she knows that's the last favor I'm ever doing for her. If you see my mother, tell her that she should be expecting me around seven." And then, beneath his breath, he added, "Not like anyone will see <em>her<em> for the rest of the night."

He shut the phone and began to descend the front steps to the school, his hands in his pockets and his eyes set on somewhere far off in the distance. He could see his house, built with red bricks and white columns, from those stairs. The large home stood out between the leaves in the treetops, and because it was sitting on an enormous hill that seemed to stretch out towards the sky, it looked like a castle from where he was standing.

Luka sighed heavily, and then he began to fiddle with a coin in his pocket as he went down the sidewalk.

_I'll probably be eating dinner alone tonight, _he thought.

A classmate, a girl from his third hour, crossed his path. Her face brightened when she saw him. "Hey — Luka!" she exclaimed, running towards him with an armful of flyers. "Do you think you'd be interested in the Mathletes Club? You know, since you're so good at math and you used to tutor calculus and all. Our attendance is running short this year, and maybe if _you _were to show up, we'd—"

He pushed her aside, not physically but with the strength of his irritated stare. "Don't even bother," he said curtly, looking away so that nobody would see them making eye contact. "I'm busy anyway. My — my mother wants me to organize some files for her."

"Oh, I understand, with her business and all," said the girl, her face falling. He couldn't remember her name, but he did know that she was the only one who seemed naïve to his curt attitude. Obliviously, she continued, "Well, if you ever find the time, we'll be waiting for you. We could win nationally with your smarts."

_I remember the day that my mother left my father. She didn't think that he had enough potential. She had the money and the business charisma, and he was only a writer. He wasn't good enough for her. _When he walked away from the girl, purposely ignoring her disappointment, he bit his lip. _And now I'm not good enough for her either. If I joined the Mathletes, she'd only wonder if I'm trying to ruin her reputation._

As he walked, Luka felt that his mind was distanced from him. He could hardly focus on where he was walking, let alone who was standing in his way or what obstacles he might have faced. Between the warm pavement and the afternoon sun, the heat of Saffron City was both overwhelming and blinding. He was almost staggering along, searching for somewhere to be.

_What does reputation matter?_

He asked himself that, but he knew that it meant everything. His mother had spent ten years building up her own reputation, putting good things beneath her name and making sure that everyone realized how successful she was going to be. That dedication was what led her to her current state, to the mansion they lived in and the lavish life they couldn't have obtained with Luka's father.

Before he realized it, he was standing before an apartment complex. The building was untouched by the daylight warmth, because no matter where the sun was, there were enough trees around it to keep it away from the light. Nothing was broken, but everything was close to falling apart, and compared to Luka's home just up the hill, the complex looked like an abandoned shack.

Luka craned his head back and stared into one of the gray windows, as if he could see the room behind it. Then he leaned down, picked up a smooth pebble, and tossed it at the pane. The window tittered for a second, shaking from the impact, and then it opened. What was revealed was a small face, surrounded by brown hair, dappling freckles and colorful blue eyes.

"Let me in," said Luka, unaware of the affection in his voice for only a moment. "There's no way that I'm climbing in through your window."

The boy at the window grinned and momentarily disappeared. Luka waited patiently, listening to the sound of the wind in the trees and the silence that followed afterwards. There was a loud buzzing at the front door to the apartment complex, and then he strode forward and walked inside.

Like the outside of the complex, the interior of the building was empty and filled with only echoes. As he ascended the stairs to the boy's room, he kept one hand on the concrete wall and the other on the brass railing. For a moment, there was nothing to hear but the noise of his footsteps, but then there was the sound of knocking at the boy's door, and finally the sweet click of the locks turning.

"Luka! I thought you weren't going to come today!"

"Of course I was, Shinx," said Luka, ruffling the boy's hair as he entered the room. He had called Nolan 'Shinx' for years, because of the lick of hair on his head that always stood up, no matter how many attempts his mother made to smooth it over. "I'm sorry that I was late. I told my chauffeur to leave me at the school, so I just walked here." He glanced around the seemingly empty apartment, and then he asked, "Are your parents here today?"

Nolan shook his head, replying, "No, my dad had something come up at work, and my mom just went to the grocery store. She'll be back though." He gasped, as if a revolutionary idea had stricken him, and he started doing a dance in place. "Maybe you can help us make those chocolate-chip cookies!"

"I'll think about it." Luka collapsed on one of the couches, allowing himself to smile as the child catapulted from his spot and onto the seat next to him. "Thing is, if my mother comes home tonight, I'll have to be there. If she does, I wish it could have been any other night. You know that I don't get to see her as often as you get to see your mom."

"Yeah, I know," said Nolan. "My mom doesn't have a job like yours does, though."

Luka smiled again, this time wider than the last. "That's right," he said. "My mom is out making us money so that we can eat and have nice things. Your mom is here, taking care of you so you can be healthy again. That's why I come by as often as I can – that way she can have some days to go out too. I bet, though, whenever you get your own Pokémon, you'll be all better again."

Nolan's parents had been insisting that the child wasn't old enough for his own Pokémon yet. They believed that every boy's first best friend shouldn't happen until the ten-years-old checkpoint. Nolan was several months short, and that was all he had been talking about for the last couple of weeks.

"They'll probably get me some sissy, girly Pokemon," said Nolan, pouting. "Like some stupid Magikarp or Vulpix. I want something big and strong and mighty, like on Pokémon League TV!"

"Don't you know? Magikarp evolves into the mighty Gyarados, whose roar can shake the world!" exclaimed Luka, waving his hands around dramatically. He could already see the excited grin on the child's face. "And Vulpix? Well, she evolves into the beautiful Ninetales, whose powers over fire can burn any foe!"

Nolan jumped up and down on the couch, nearly bashing in the ceiling with his head. Suddenly, once he made impact with the couch, he began to violently cough and wheeze. Luka startled forward to help the child, but Nolan only pushed him away with his frail arms. When he looked up again, he was ashen and delicate looking.

"L—Luka," he managed to say through his coughing, "if you know so much about Pokémon, how come you don't have any of your own? Everyone I know that's as old as you has one."

_I remember that my father, in that small apartment that we lived in, had a Golduck. Most of the time, we just let him roam around outside, since we lived by the forest and some ponds. I think that he loved Pokemon more than anything __– __not as much as me and my mother, but he was obsessed enough. He would tell me everything about them, from legends to true stories to facts. Those tales were the best things I've ever heard._

"I've never really thought about it," lied Luka, looking for something to do with his nervous hands. He sighed, wishing that he could have given his little friend a straightforward answer, and then he said, "Nolan, would you like a story that I heard when I was your age? It's about a king and a monster."

Nolan, who was as skeptical as ever, said, "Is it a true story?"

"I don't think so, but it's definitely the best fairytale that I've ever heard of," said Luka. Once the boy gave him an approving look, he began, "Once upon a time, in the Pokemon world, there was a mighty ruler. He served his people faithfully, making sure that they were the happiest that they could be. He was strong, loving, handsome, and brave, and _everyone_ loved him."

Nolan gave another cough as he leaned against the arm of the couch and listened attentively.

"He was strong, in fact, that there were many bad guys that were looking to take his power, but he fought and won against all of them. However, even though his rule was going perfectly, he began to wonder if everyone truly loved him like they said they did," said Luka. "He got scared of his own people. And then one day, there appeared a villain who was more evil than any of the others."

"Uh-oh," whispered Nolan, widening his eyes. He tugged at Luka's arm, asking, "So what happened? What happened?"

"This villain, who was so bad and so evil that even the _other_ bad guys were afraid of him, made the king sick and tried to take over his body." Luka still loved listening to the story, even though he was already sixteen and was the one who was telling it. "The king got so sick that he couldn't even rule his people anymore, and they started to lose trust in him."

Nolan clambered all over the place, and because he was Nolan, Luka allowed it. "That's awful," he declared, sitting halfway on Luka's shoulders and halfway on the back of the couch. He did a tumble down to the seat, his blue eyes big with sympathy. "I don't know why any villain would want to hurt a king like that."

"I don't either."

"I don't think I want to know the end of the story," said the child. Abruptly, he yawned, and then he began to sleepily rub his eyes. Apparently, his energy storage wasn't infinite. "I think that I'll just dream about it when I sleep, and I'll tell you what happened in the end." That was a tradition they had shared since the day Luka started telling Nolan stories.

Luka watched as Nolan began to grow increasingly exhausted, and then he gently picked up the child so that he could carry him to the bedroom. He laid Nolan down on his bed, which was surrounded by at least a dozen or so Pokemon plushies and action figures.

Then he softly said, "I hope that you dream about the happy end, kiddo."

When Nolan only gave a murmured response, Luka left the room, shutting the door quietly behind him. Just as he was picking up his school bag, the front door opened and in walked Nolan's mother, whose shadowed eyes and pale hair made her look older than she really was.

"Oh, Luka, hello there," she said, shutting the door with her shoulder as she slipped her heels off. She gratefully handed him one of the grocery bags she was holding, and he wordlessly took it to the kitchen counter. Noticing the closed bedroom door, she asked, "Has Nolan already fallen asleep? I brought him a refill from the pharmacy. I was hoping to catch him before he knocked out."

"He was all jumpy one minute and then asleep the next."

"Gosh, it's so hard to keep him awake nowadays," his mother said. "He must sleep about sixteen hours of the day, if not more. I have a difficult time getting him to wake up so that he can eat." She regarded Luka strangely, and then she added, "Funny that he always wakes up just so that he can see you. Maybe I should hire you to stay here all day long."

Luka paused, his hand hovering just over the front doorknob. "I would if I could."

"Yes, I know," she sighed, giving him another odd look. Just before he opened the door to leave, she stopped him and said, "Luka, thank you. I know that you are so busy with your schoolwork and everything, but it really means a lot to him that you stop by every day. I wish that I could there for him like you are."

Luka kept his eyes averted, suddenly feeling very cold and lost again. "I used to know someone like him," he said quietly. "I just don't want him to end up the same way that person did." With those words, he left the apartment complex.

_She's here again._

The yellow-eyed girl was standing in the street below, between two parked cars and some rose bushes, her gaze fixed on him as it had been earlier that day. As he stood there, on the second-story balcony, only having the wind to listen to again, he trembled and clutched at the railing. His head said that she was only someone who was out to get a hold of his mother – a news reporter, perhaps. His heart said she was more important than that.

Once he reached the street level, she had already vanished.

_She's only part of the paparazzi, I bet, _thought Luka. He stood in the middle of the street, exactly where she'd been, turning in all directions and trying to find out which direction she'd gone. However, the only thing that she'd left was the faint, but pleasant, aroma of flowers and sweet perfume.

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><p>Of course, his mother hadn't come home the previous night, and so, in the morning, the mansion was as empty as ever. There was no reassurance in the towering ceiling or the chandeliers, and even though he had walked down the marble staircase thousands of times, Luka couldn't help but feel like that particular instance was lonelier than the others.<p>

"The limo is ready for your departure, sir," said the chauffeur, respectfully nodding his head as Luka descended the last set of stairs.

"Just so you know, we aren't picking Cassia up this time," said Luka, fixing his school uniform. He glanced at his reflection in one of the china-dresser mirrors, hoping that, for just this once, he wouldn't see his own platinum blonde hair and bright, bronze eyes. "Nor will we be picking her up ever again. If she calls, don't bother answering either."

"Sir?"

Luka strode past the man and into the outside, inhaling sharply as he was greeted by a rare cool breeze. "I think that she's been taking advantage of our rides. Besides, she lives close to the school. She should be able to walk. Nobody likes a lazy woman." Even though Cassia was quite the opposite of that, he felt smug, knowing that she would be forced to walk.

"Two miles is not exactly _close_, sir."

Luka pressed his lips together so that the chauffeur wouldn't see his smile. "Oh, well," he said very nonchalantly, as he always did. "I hope she left a little early then."

That particular morning, Saffron looked more suffocating than usual. The thin veil of smog that was curling above the buildings gave Luka the impression that the city was really like an unavoidable trap, a cage in which he was forced to live in. Without his and Cassia's stiff conversation, the atmosphere of the limo was calmer, and yet it didn't feel any better than it had yesterday. Certainly not any less lonely.

He played with his phone, pressing random buttons so that his chauffeur would at least think he was messaging someone, even though he wasn't. When there was a slight pattering at the glass window, he glanced upwards and saw that it had begun to rain. If he had been thinking about Cassia at that moment, he would have remembered that she was walking in the rain, but the only thing he could think about was how much nicer Saffron seemed when it wasn't hitting triple-digit degrees.

As the limo pulled into the school, Luka couldn't avoid the sense of foreboding he had. There was a small churning in the pit of his stomach, and whenever he attempted to ignore it, his heart began to beat in his throat. He couldn't explain why he was feeling that way, but as soon as he stepped into the light rain, he saw exactly why.

The golden-eyed girl was there _again_. This time, however, she wasn't hiding behind the bushes at the entrance to the school. She was standing right by the staircase, her back and one of her legs against the wall, as if she had been casually waiting there for a long time. Her small fingers were tapping the concrete, her eyes passing over him.

_She sees me. She's just pretending that she doesn't. _Luka carefully shut the door to the limo, not moving until it had driven away. And then, pretending like he hadn't seen her, he tucked his books beneath his arm and strolled to the staircase. Once he reached the bottom stair, he was only feet away from her. He could practically smell the perfume on her, see the darker amber flecks in her irises.

"Oh my goodness, how _cute!" _exclaimed a girl, who was standing right behind him. She just about sprinted to the girl with the golden eyes, whose expression registered quick panic, and then the student turned around and beckoned for some more of her friends. "Look, someone left their Meganium here. I wonder who she belongs to!"

The twist in Luka's stomach returned.

"She's way too cute to be abandoned like that," said another student. She glanced around, searching for the owner, and then she returned her attention to the golden-eyed girl. Extending her open palm, she attempted to coerce her, "Were you left alone here all by yourself? Come on, we aren't going to hurt you. Come here, sweetheart."

That was when the golden-eyed girl turned heel and ran, and she was _fast_. Using only her arm strength, she pushed herself onto the wall and sprinted down its top line, and once she reached the fire escape stairs, she threw herself onto those too and began taking them four at a time. Luka was amazed that, for such a short girl, she was able to exhibit such agility.

_Nothing about her is normal. _

That was when it occurred to Luka that he needed to follow her. He dropped all of his textbooks and ran after her, pushing through the crowd of surprised girls and shouting, "Hey, wait, come back!" He couldn't leap onto the wall like she had, so he had to go all the way around, up the hill, and go from there.

The fire escape was still vibrating with her footsteps above. Luka grabbed the railing, pulling himself onto it, and breathlessly ran up the stairs, hoping that he wasn't going to lose his chance to corner her at the roof of the building. After seeing how easily she could jump from the ground level all the way onto the top of the wall, he wouldn't be surprised if she could leap across rooftops.

"W—wait, I need to talk to you!" His breath was beginning to rasp, and he was quickly becoming too exhausted to chase after her. Just when he thought his legs were going to give up on him, he stumbled onto the roof of the building, and there she was, staring at him like always.

She was standing at the edge, only centimeters from stepping over and into her death. Her hands were folded behind her back, and with the wind all around them, her dress and hair was swaying to the side like the tendrils of a willow tree.

Luka doubled over, his hands on his knees as he panted for air. "Tell me who you are," he demanded, but even the lashing tone of his voice couldn't change her expression. "What's all this crap about you being a Meganium? Those girls were treating you like you were some kind of _Pok__é__mon_. And don't think that I haven't seen you following me around. You aren't sneaky."

"I wasn't trying to be unseen," said the girl breathlessly, grinning like she'd just been on the wildest ride of her life. "You're Luka, right? Luka Montgomery. I've seen you in the news before! I thought your name was familiar…"

"Oh, please," snapped Luka. "What is it that you want? Money? A crazy story that you can publish in the news about me and my mother?"

"I don't want anything like that."

That was when Luka noticed a shimmer in her hair, and he saw that there was a glass iris that shined different colors pinned to her bangs. When she caught his eyes on the iris, her hand flew to her hair and she touched it gently, as if it reassured her. She continued, "I'm not here for your wealth or some article about your family. I'm here to get _you_."

"You want _me?_" Luka stepped closer to her, almost threatening her with his cold stare, but still she stood there. She didn't seem intimidated by his glares at all. "Great, is this some stupid kidnapping thing? I'll have you know, my mother and the authorities would search the ends of the world to get me back."

"Oh no, it's nothing like that," she said, laughing like she knew something that he didn't. "Nobody will even know that you're gone. Actually, they will, but that's beside the point... If we were in any other time period but this one, I would give you a run down of what's going to happen, but I don't have time for that."

_Nobody will even know that you're gone_. Luka's stomach was hurting so bad that he could barely form words. "You're going to kidnap me," he said, immediately scanning for some kind of escape. The only way was down the fire escape, and after seeing how fast she could run _up_ them, he doubted he was going to be able to get away while going _down_.

"_Luka_, I'm not kidnapping you," said the girl, and for once, her voice exhibited clear exasperation. "Look, I'm going to keep this short and sweet, because like I mentioned, I'm under a deadline right now. If you're anything like you're supposed to be, you're someone who isn't meant to be in this world. Do you understand? You belong somewhere else...the place where I live."

"Meant to be in this world?" said Luka. "What do you mean by _that_, not in this world? I don't belong _anywhere _else but here. And even if I wasn't supposed to be here, I sure as heck wouldn't need to be where _you_ come from."

The girl put on a very serious expression then. Her next words came forcefully. "Luka, have you ever thought that you were supposed to be born in another time and place, like you just don't belong here? Have you ever suspected that you were born for something _greater?__"_

Luka couldn't tell her that, because then he would be agreeing with her, and that was the last thing he wanted to do. "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard," he said, sounding hesitant. "I told you, I'm meant to be here. I have things to do, people to take care of." His thoughts shifted to memories of Nolan.

"That's not what your fate says," said the girl. She stepped down from the edge of the building. "In fact, it says quite the opposite."

"Now you're going on about _fate _and all of that." Luka stumbled backwards as she got closer to him. She was much shorter than him, by at least three quarters of a foot, but that didn't mean she wasn't at all intimidating.

"Luka, I'm here for one purpose only," she said, stopping right in front of him. "I know that you want to run away right now, but aren't you even the slightest bit curious? Don't you even want to _try_ and see what's in store for you? If you just listened to me, I promise that you'll open the doors to the greatest adventure of your whole life. Better than traveling the world with your Pokémon. Even better than becoming the Champion."

"A—an adventure?" Luka dared not believe it. Sure, she was sounding like a lunatic, but long ago he vowed that, if the opportunity to escape his mediocre life in Saffron City came by, he would take it. He doubted he could stand one more night in his vacant mansion, without anyone to talk to or anything to do. "As—as _if. _And so what, even if _you_ were telling me the truth, what would I have to do to go on this adventure?

The girl's face didn't change, and that was the frightening part about it. And then, her next words:

"You have to die."

And then she reached out and pushed him from the top of the building.

**End**


End file.
